KIVALLIQ HYDRO-FIBRE LINK
After the rail line to Churchill was washed out due to severe flooding in 2017, the supply point for the region shifted, Avery adds. AGG has rebuilt that infrastructure and is working to shift that business back to Manitoba. Even though the KHFL is a different type of infrastructure, Avery says the benefits are the same for communities and the Canadian economy at large. “It just made sense for us to work and collaborate together, share information and share ideas as to how to strengthen the ties between northern Manitoba and central Nunavut,” Avery said. “There are a multitude of Manitoba businesses that can benefit from being connected … the more we connect the two regions, the more opportunities there will be.” As Canada invests in the Port of Churchill and Hudson Bay Railway, Audouin says the KHFL will strengthen Churchill’s role as a resupply hub for northern mines and communities, create jobs, attract investment and help modernize critical infrastructure in Churchill and across the North. “The KHFL can be the backbone that powers Manitoba and Nunavut’s coastal economies,” Audouin says. The project will also be a huge step forward environmentally for the region, meeting Nunavut’s GHG emissions reduction target. “Nunavut communities rely entirely on diesel generation for their electricity needs — with diesel fuel shipped in through sensitive Arctic waters and stored in large tanks near homes and schools. This comes with environmental risks and rising costs,” Audouin says. “The KHFL will help replace over 100 million litres of diesel every year with reliable power from Manitoba Hydro, dramatically cutting emissions and improving air quality while protecting fragile Arctic ecosystems.” Being 100 per cent Inuit-led and owned also ensures the project aligns with community priorities, values and culture starting right from construction, Audouin says.
Nunavut Premier P.J. Akeeagok with government officials from Manitoba and Nunavut, along with officials from Nukik, Manitoba Hydro and Qulliq Energy Corp.
The KHFL has also now been flagged as a top priority along with three other projects by the Government of Nunavut and Nunavut Tunngavik Inc. as they consider Arctic security. “The KHFL is core to Arctic sovereignty; there will be no safe Arctic without strategic infrastructure,” Audouin says. “By delivering domestic, reliable power and connectivity to the Kivalliq region, it strengthens Canada’s presence in the North, with possible military uses to support Canada’s growing defence needs in the Arctic.” While heightened geopolitical tensions globally have drawn recent attention to the area, Avery says the security and sovereignty in the Arctic has been on their radar since before President Donald Trump was re-elected. “With these tariffs, the trade wars and the talk of the 51st state … some people would say that (President) Trump has made us sit up and think about what we really need to do to connect our country, and it just makes sense from a defence and sovereignty perspective and for our economy,” Avery says. “We recognize that we need to lean in on this, and we’re proud to be a part of the national solution.”
Rankin Inlet, Nvt.
SUBMITTED PHOTOS
39 SUMMER 2025
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